5th Gen Sawsbuck vs Leavanny

[Ho-Oh]

Skipped last week because chances are we were all into X/Y last week and skipped yesterday because graduating uni! Nevertheless, we have a match-up of two strong grass attackers in the tier - with one being used a lot, and the other being used very little (also we might only have a few more matchups, iirc).

When comparing the two, I want you to also base it on which you'd use competitively, which do you think has the better chance, which you used in-game, which you like the design-of best, and what strategies you think one could use to beat the other. Each week these polls will continue until all combinations and tiers are used up (each Pokemon compared will be from the same competitive tier). To find out more about tiers, and how you can get the most out of these Pokemon, check out Battle Center. So which do you choose? Don't forget to post in the thread when voting in the poll, either!

 

[Cordelia]

Sawsbuck because I don't like the 4x fire and 4x flying weakness on Leavanny. Two 4x weaknesses make it very vulnerable to common attacks. :\

 

[blue]

I like Sawsbucks design but I chose Leavanny since using it in Black 2 and found it so useful, I've really grown to like this Pokemon since this.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Vote goes for Sawsbuck for the better movepool and the lack of two 4x weaknesses. Also, Sap Sipper and Chlorophyll are really good abilities for the deer.

 

[kevcrash]

I love Leavanny and it can really pull its weight for my teams, but Sawsbuck has proven more useful on my teams since I don't need to set up with him. Sap Sipper is also an awesome ability. I'm sorry Leav you're so cute but I can't vote for you ):

 

[Sweets Witch]

I use Leavanny more in-game because its movepool compliments its Attack over its Special Attack, but competitively I'll probably always pick Sawsbuck over it. Jump Kick is good, a lack of weakness to Stealth Rock is good, Horn Leech is good, its abilities are good. Leavanny's got a good number of resistances, but those 4x weaknesses are a bit of a turn-off even when matched up against Sawsbuck's Fighting weakness.

 

[Hikamaru]

I do like both the designs of these two but I'm going with Sawsbuck, mainly cos I used one on my Black team (before replacing her with a Breloom) and unlike Leavanny, it has no nasty 4x weaknesses (Leavanny will basically die from a Fire or Flying attack) and it gets cool moves like Jump Kick, hard-hitting Return and also Horn Leech to deal damage while healing at the same time. Sawsbuck also has very handy abilities - Chlorophyll (a great Sun team abuser) and Sap Sipper (makes the opponent want to think twice before using Grass attacks cos they give it a 1.5x Attack boost).

 

[pokemanmdj]

I like Sawsbuck a bit more than Leavanny. Sawsbuck has proven to be very useful, both in-game and somewhat competitive with it's impressive stats.

Leavanny- I mean, sure, it destroys everything after a SD, but it has those horrid x4 weaknesses- not to mention Sawsbuck is faster than it with Leech Horn.

Honestly though, I don't use both of them too much, but I prefer Sawsbuck.

 

[PlatinumDawnFtw]

Leavanny for me.. I never found Sawsbuck very useful and Leavanny equipped with Leaf Blade and X-Scissor is pretty powerful.

 

[Altairis]

Sawsbuck! I used it ingame and it was soo much more useful than I thought it would be! I also really like it's design and although Leavanny was so-so useful, Sawsbuck is way better.

 

[Entermaid]

I actually really enjoy both of these pokemon quite equally!
I tend to prefer more regal/elegant pokemon, so these two definitely take the cake.
The only reason why I gave the edge to Sawsbuck was the fact that Leavanny's sprite doesn't do it justice. I would have like to see less heavy black lines and more emphatic facial features.

For me, the sprite work does not convey the same leavanny from the anime.

Spoiler:

 

[Starry Windy]

I picked Sawsbuck because I like its seasonal designs, and its immunity to Ghost attacks is also a plus point.

 

[Boilurn]

I went for Sawsbuck. Normal/Grass has better coverage than Bug/Grass, which gets resisted by Fire, Flying, Poison and Steel types. Also, Sawsbuck looks great whatever the season is, as well as being a deer, my favorite animal.

 

[Brendino]

While I do prefer Leavanny's design a little bit more, my choice is easily Sawsbuck. I absolutely hate using anything that has a potential 4x weakness (Leavanny has 2), and I much preferred Sawsbuck's movepool, anyway.

 

[BloodyRoyaltyandNarwhals]

Swords Dance + Double Edge. Enough said; Sawsbuck is awesome.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I like Sawsbuck better because it has a better movepool than Leavanny's. All four of its seasonal forms are very creative too.

 

[Arlo]

Missed having one of these last week. Just sayin'....

And... this is another tough one for me. Leavanny gets the early nod, since it's far and away one of my favorites from this gen. Its 4x weaknesses don't bother me in the least, since I don't battle competitively and in-game, getting away from a weakness is just a matter of painlessly switching, so the weaknesses just don't matter. And I'd switch a Sawsbuck away from Fires or Flyers too, so that evens out anyway. I just like Leavanny's "swashbuckler" design, and have used one in every playthrough I've done in Unova yet, ever since the first time I evolved one, starting from the Sewaddle I caught in Pinwheel Forest on my very first time through White, and used it all the way through the E4 and as my regular lead on the Battle Subway. It's a great design with two awesome STABs. And it's the only shiny I've caught so far in Unova - evolved from a Swadloon I caught in Lostlorn Forest in White. I've currently got one on my team in Black 2, where it just finished demolishing Clay's gym almost singlehandedly.

BUT - Sawsbuck is awesome too, and very pleasantly so, since Deerling is cute and all, but I just didn't expect such an awesome evolution. I liked Deerling from the first time I saw it, and I love its moveset, since it's appropriately fragile but surprisingly powerful, and its two main attacks are a recoil move and a miss-and-take-damage move (and Deerling takes about half of its total points from a single miss). But the one thing it needed was a good physical grass attack. I looked it up online and saw that it gets one in Horn Leech, but even with that, I still wasn't expecting all that much. But man, Sawsbuck is awesome - far tougher and bulkier than I expected. Just between Return and Horn Leech, there's not much that can stand up to it. And the winter form in particular is beautiful.

But Leavanny still comes out just a bit ahead. Just a bit...

 

[BlackNekos]

I've only used Leavanny... And while yes it was a bad choice for Skylar's gym, it was still a very good pokemon to use for me.

 

[Urugamosu]

Leavanny is my pick, I love how it's design is and how creative they made it. It's pretty reliable during the games too, early on, till the end.

 

[Correspondence]

I'm going to choose Sawbusk because it has a better movepool and its seasonal form changes are cool.Also, i don't like the 4x weakness Leavanny has to flying types.